It's one of those where the inquisited goes 'Hmm interesting concept', going to have to think about it.
On a different theme.
Every Thursday I have lunch with a pastor, we haven't been friends for too long - we just sort of drifted together.
He's one of those 'charimatic' preachers, believes the bible is the true word of god and every word is god's truth.
We know each other's views but every week he tries to convert me, pulling this quite and that quote and I quote buddha's teachings back at him (I'm not a buddhist) just to prove it was said earlier.
The curious thing is I walk out feeling as though I've had a supremely deep meditation - very strange,

I have two stories that might be interesting. I got these many, many years ago when I began learning Qabalah & has brought me to what I am now. It goes about like this:
    A well-known Rabbi, when he got a problem, he would go to a certain forest, performed a certain ritual, then he would get the solution. His successor, in the next generation, he did know not already the forest, but the Rabbi still know the ritual. So, when he got a problem, he just performed it and got the solution. The next generation afterwards, the Rabbi didn't know neither the forest nor the ritual, but when he got a problem, he just tell the story of that first Rabbi,.... and you know what? The problem still solved.
    And here's the last. Before that, a little explanation: Just like in Christian the final destination is Paradise, for the Buddhists Nirvana, Moksha for Hindus, Valhalla for Nordic beliefs, etc, etc; for Qabalist, it is the marriage of Shekinah & Messiah. Now to the storiy. Two young Rabbi arrived in a town on their journey. Lived in that town is a well-known old Rabbi. It was nearly sunset[P.S: and for the Jews a day is begin at sunset] and tomorrow is Sabbath. So they went to the old Rabbi's house & spent the Sabbath with praying--using prayer book.
    There came an occasion when they were praying, there was a knock on the door. The old Rabbi opened the door, & it turned out a young man & woman standing in front of it. The two Rabbis kept on praying while the old Rabbi was talking to the strangers. After talking quite long, the old Rabbi came over and asked the two young Rabbis. "These couple are in difficult situation and far from their home. They want to get married & asked me to help them. But according to the rules, I must ask the consent of everyone in the room. Would you give your permission?
    The two Rabbis, knowing that there should be no working in Sabbath, including marriage, were lowering their heads and kept concentrating on their prayer. The old Rabbi asked once more but the twos bowed even lower and read their prayer louder. The old Rabbi went to the couple to explained, and with sad look, the couple left the house.
    After a while, the old Rabbi started to speak, "Do you know who they are?" "No, we don't", said the two Rabbis. Then the old Rabbi began to explained: "Those two are Messiah & Shekinah. The have waited very, very long time & finally have the chance to married. If only you gave your permission....."

Professor, chrismatic people can have that effect one And if one does not believe that the Bible is the word of God (at least out loud) then one can not be a Christian minister. And all of the great one's were teaching the same thing at least at the upper levels of things. Jesus is quoted as saying that we should go to our closet and pray instead of the temple (which was Jewish at the time) and that the Holy Spirit would teach us. Which is actually a true mystic reality.

I started my yogi explorations because yogi gurus were saying that Jesus was teaching the same thing that they were teaching so one should study under them. After thirty years of exploring this stuff it turns out that they were wrong. But at the same time most Christians are not teaching what Jesus was teaching either.The great ones come along and set an example and leave wisdom to go with it and then other folks come along and change this example and wisdom into some else and sorting the whole thing out is a mess . Oh well

You and your friend having lunch once a week is probably going to be a productive experience for both of you It is funny how sometimes things work out that way.  

love you,

sunmystic

MacLir, what you posted was cool! I loved it!

In the book of Thomas, one of the lost books of the bible, is a story about Jesus as a child. He was playing at the edge of a puddle and He was making small birds out of clay, durring the Sabath. Two elders/priests caught him doing it and went to Jesus's mother and brought her out to see what Jesus was doing on the Sabath. When Jesus's mother started to rebuke Jesus for working on the Sabath the clay birds became living birds and flew away. And Jesus asked where the proof was.

Love,

sunmystic

I'll give a little explanation for the two stories.
    For the first :
    Every story can reveal it's meaning by reading or thinking of it over & over again. I know because it always happened to me many times. An example is when I was using The Lord's Prayer for Mantra Yoga. After sometimes, something came across my mind that the words "give us our daily bread" doesn't mean food only, but also our happiness & trouble. Trouble? Yes, because without it we would never develop our consciousness and knowledge. Just as in Islam it is said that when Allah loves a community, He would give tribulations. If they suceeded to overcome it, they would receive a great reward, but if failed, Jahanam(Hell) is destined for them.
That's why when someone learn Mantra Yoga, the Guru Would give him a Mantra to be practiced without giving its meaning.
   
    Speaking of this, I remember a story from Swami Sivananda Radha. Although I never met her in person, for me she is also my Guru, because from her writings, I  began to have interest in Mantra Yoga, that has became my main spiritual practice.
    The story is titled "Kudu-Kudu".
    Once upon a time, there was a well-known Mantra Guru who could make many miracles & he has many pupils in his ashram. One day a traveler arrived & asked to be allowed to stay there for a night. The Guru was happened to taught him a Mantra at that short length of time. Time passed on, & the Guru was near the end of his earthly life. His pupils were all gathering beside his bed; but not as anyone thinks of, they did that because they were hoping that their Guru would reveal his secret of how to make miracles.
    At another place, that traveler heard the news of the Guru, & intended to went Visit him--for the last time. The problem was, the river was flooding, destroying the bridge that had been the only way to the village where his Guru lived. It seems there was no way out of this. But then he used the Mantra that was given by his Guru, & started to walk upon the water. That amazing story was spreading rapidly, and when he finally arrived & met his Guru, all the other pupils were angry & crying. They said, "Guru, we were always serving you, became your obedient pupils all the times, but why you gave not your highest secret to us and gave it to a stranger instead?"
    The Guru calmly said to the stranger, "Tell them what Mantra that I had taught you that enabled you to made such a miracle?" The stranger replied: "Kudu-Kudu". That statement made all the students remained still in disbelief. "That...." the Guru said, "That is the Mantra I taught him. I gave all my knowledge to you, but you were still hoping for something more, believed that there's still a secret that I kept hidden from you."
   
    Now back to our original path. A story alone is enough to find its hidden meanings, & this includes scriptural stories also. A well-known Yogi In my country, Anand Krishna prefer to use the word "sing" for this technique of interpreting. A song can reveal its meaning by itself just by we're singing it. The meaning might be different to each person, but still in the same scope. Try to separate the lyrics from it's song and you would find debate and disagreement. I agree with his advice that every religion, every spiritual school, should "sing" their scriptures rather instead of interpreting it.
    For the second story. Sabbath means the last day--Saturday for Jews or Sunday for us, but only in the stage of Persha. The important is its core meaning, its meaning in Sod. Sabbath means the moment when we don't need to wait, work, hope, etc for what we wish, because it's the "dream come true" moment. For me, its the main reason why Jesus seemed to fond in breaking The Law of Sabbath. The marriage of Moshiach(Messiah) & Shekinah holds the same meaning. It is the symbol when our ability can fulfill our needs.